Make Pain a Thing of the Past – knee pain – Physician Partners of America

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PPOA Pilots New Endoscopic Camera

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The MIDASVu endoscopic camera is used for joint surgery and regenerative medicine

 An age-old problem with some types of joint surgery isn’t one that patients hear much about: for the surgeon, finding the target area isn’t always precise.

“Forty percent of knee injections are not in the knee. Even with people who know what they’re doing, it’s easy to miss the capsule,” says Dr. Abraham Rivera, Chief Medical Officer of Physician Partners of America.

Knowledge and experience are critical to a specialist’s success, but PPOA has taken patient safety a step further. It has becoming a pilot center for a device called MIDASVu. This next-generation endoscopic video camera can see what a live x-ray, or fluoroscope, can’t.

MIDASVu is an 18-gauge needle with an endoscopic camera attached to the tip. The creator, IntraVu Medical, Inc. of California, developed the device for a number of applications. These include arthroscopic surgery and regenerative medicine procedures.

“It’s an amazing piece of equipment. The endoscopic camera allows us to make certain that the needle is exactly inside the joint to deliver the medication or stem cells exactly in the right place inside the joint. It’s one order better than the fluoroscope,” Rivera says.

“Additionally, a physician can now quickly and easily check on healing and progress following a procedure with a simple, in-office needle stick using the MIDASVu,” Rivera says. “That’s something which previously required another visit to the MRI.”

MIDASVu is available in all PPOA locations.

Watch a demonstration here: https://vimeo.com/223131450

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Dr. Michael Lupi Joins PPOA Jacksonville Pain Relief Clinic

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Michael Lupi, D.O., has joined Physician Partners of America Pain Relief Group in its newest location in Jacksonville as a pain management physician.  He is an innovator in spinal cord and genicular nerve stimulator implants, as well as a longtime fighter against the opioid crisis.

Dr. Lupi comes to PPOA from Pain Associates of South Georgia, where he served as medical director. He has practiced interventional pain management for nearly 25 years and specializes in the treatment of spine pain, as well as musculoskeletal and neurological disorders. He has advanced training and certification in spinal cord stimulator placement, peripheral nerve stimulation, radiofrequency ablation, percutaneous electrothermal treatment, and advanced EMG training at Harvard Medical School.

He recently implanted the nation’s first peripheral nerve stimulator of the genicular nerve as a treatment for chronic knee pain.

“I was attracted to this field because it is procedure-oriented,” he says. “One procedure can be life-changing.”

Dr. Lupi is also certified as an independent medical examiner and a medical review officer. He is an expert witness in the areas of physical medicine and rehabilitation, pain medicine, and toxicology.

He earned his medical degree from Des Moines University College of Osteopathic Medicine in Iowa and completed his internship at Northlake Regional Medical Center in Atlanta. He then completed his residency at Emory University, Atlanta Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation.

His longtime interest in stemming the opioid crisis aligns with PPOA’s mission to use interventional pain management techniques and tighten prescribing guidelines. “We have known for a long time how addictive opioids are,” he said. “We need to promote alternatives and come up with more guidelines for prescribing for chronic – as opposed to acute – pain patients.”

Dr. Lupi has traveled to Washington D.C. several times in an effort to generate federal interest in a pilot project using artificial intelligence to fight the opioid epidemic. It has been well-received. He is a fellow of the American Board of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation with board certification in the subspecialty pain medicine. He also serves as clinical instructor at Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine.

Patients can make appointments with Dr. Lupi at the Jacksonville office, 11705 San Jose Blvd., Suite 110, Jacksonville, FL 32223 between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. The phone number is (904) 579-1365. Same-day appointments are available.

 

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